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The Off Duty Nurse

Meet the face behind The Off Duty Nurse

My name is Keziah Patience Agbaere. Yes! Patience is really my middle name. Those who know me personally may say my middle name is not very fitting, but I am working on it. Just wait on it lol. 

My family is half Nigerian (Igbo) and half american. I like to say I am truly an African American. I was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, where I also currently reside. God has blessed me two amazing parents and three older brothers that I am proud to call my family. And lets not forget my son/dog, Mason, who is currently stepping on the keyboard as I type.

 I studied nursing at Georgia Southern University, receiving my Bachelor of Science in Nursing in December 2014. I have been a RN since February 2015. Currently I am working in pediatrics on a surgical/trauma med-surg floor at the leading children's hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.  

The idea for this blog came to me during a very difficult time in my life. I almost lost hope for the year 2016. I wrecked my car after falling asleep while driving home after a night shift. Circumstances then led to me no longer having a full time RN position, so I decided to use the extra time I had to create a blog of my experiences. My boyfriend gave me the idea to name my blog The Off Duty Nurse. Off Duty seemed so fitting given my situation. It was actually perfect! 

This blog was created to document my personal experiences as a RN. I also would like to provide advice and encouraging words to new graduate nurses like myself. I found my first year as an RN to be extremely difficult, and I would like to help those who may encounter the same challenges I faced. Nursing is rewarding, but it is definitely not easy. This year I learned this the hard way. I quickly realized the importance of practicing patience, holding your tongue, and understanding that pain is only temporary. 

Below Keziah shares five quick facts about The Off Duty Nurse:

 1. The Off Duty Nurse blog was created during a very difficult time in my life. I had recently lost my job, but I was also dealing with various other financial and emotional challenges at the time. I decided to create this blog as a creative outlet for stress relief, but I also wanted to share the many challenges I faced as a new graduate nurse up until that point. It also became my goal, to showcase individual Nurses accomplishments so their hard work doesn't go unrecognized, as well as give advice to new nurses. I felt like I always looked up to experienced nurses as a new nurse, so I know how important it is to hear the experiences of others and implement them into practice.

2. Why nursing? Everyone says they become a nurse because they care about people, but nursing is much more than that. Yes, it is important to provide compassionate care, but it's very rewarding to seeing your patients recover. It's even more rewarding hearing how much the care you provided impacted their hospital stay. && Yes, the income is good, but it never seems like you can get paid enough for the hours you put in as a nurse. Which is whyburnout exist in the nursing career.

With there being so many specialties in nursing, it's important to find something you love doing in order to make working as a nurse more fulfilling on an individual basis.

3. On Mondays and Wednesdays, we are posting nursing spotlight recipients on our blog and social media outlets. Are you a nurse or nursing student? Or Do you know an exceptional nurse? Want a feature? Nominate yourself or your friends and tell us all about it. We love showcasing our young nurses and highlighting their accomplishments. Follow @theoffdutynurse and email at theoffdutynurse@gmail.com

*Nurses: Include your name, age, title, city, specialty,  length of time as a nurse, and anything you'd like to share with our viewers. Student Nurses: Name, city, school, classification interest in nursing, && any questions you may want to ask our RNs. Photos can be submitted at any time.*

4. In the future, The Off Duty Nurse will offer tips on travel nursing, diet tips, recommendations on scrub and shoes brands, as well as host a Q&A for new nurses or nurses looking to switch specialties.  If there are any other topics viewers would like to explore, we are open to very and suggestions via email at theoffdutynurse@gmail.com

5. Advice to new nurses: It's important to be competent, but your patients and families will not remember how smart you were. They will remember the nurse that went above and beyond when providing their care. They will remember that extra blanket you remembered to bring , and that one time you held their hand. Use the knowledge you will obtain over the years, but be sure to treat everyone you encounter with dignity and respect.

" "The character of a nurse is just as important as the knowledge he/she possesses." "  -- Carolyn Jarvis